1 DEC 2014 :: Christmas shopping is really here...

Cyber Monday is pretty much over now... we survived Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Sunday (actually the first Sunday of Advent).

I was devastated to lose my internet access on Sunday afternoon and evening. I don't know what happened this morning... I didn't get on the computer till mid-afternoon.  I have been catching up since then.

Made some bread today.  I am working on my own recipe for one loaf of bread.  Trying to make it with different ingredients each time. Today I used sunflower seeds. I tried to make a crust of flax seeds, but they didn't stay on.  :-)   Will have to knead them in next time.  I took the temperature of my bread loaf this time... to see if it was done.  I watch America's Test Kitchen a lot, and they said that bread is a certain temperature when it is done.  Mine was 180 degrees, but I couldn't remember what it was suppose to be.  I haven't checked on that yet.  :-)  [While looking for the link, I did several search terms and couldn't find the temperature that way... I will continue my effort another time.]

I am fond of County Fairs and when I started trying to enter things for the exhibits, I would look at the food items, including breads, and wonder how they judged them.  They open a loaf of bread to judge it... I have no idea what it is suppose to look like to be a winning exhibit, yet.  I want to see the fairs have samples for people to try... especially the winners.  What does a winning entry taste like?  I want to know...

I didn't have a Thanksgiving, but some years are like that.  I remember one year, when I had kids, that our meal was stew.  It was a good year. 

I discovered the option to offer prayers at one (then two) of the Christian Teams at Etsy this weekend. I was impressed by a recent program on Focus on the Family about a Thankfulness Journal and decided to say thank you to GOD and then added a small prayer for blessing on those who love Him. I am wanting to add more prayers/praises now... this may be a good thing or a bad thing.  It depends on what GOD is trying to achieve and who is reading them.   :-)   It helps to remember all the blessings we have in the middle of our hard times... it changes our perspectives.

I watched most of It's A Wonderful Life over the weekend.... need to see that again... and dig out more of my VHS tapes.  I discovered that my DVD player doesn't work anymore. VHS is fine as long as the machine works and it doesn't eat the tapes.  I like them... you can't flip through like a DVD, but it is still the movie.  And it is relatively cheaper. 

I love that movie. It is my all time favorite.  It shares so many concepts about life and GOD and how important every person is to our existence.  I don't think angels are like Clarence, but it is a nice movie. When we look at the changes in our society, we can see that America is becoming "Potterville,"  and that is not a good thing.   I don't think we can change that direction anymore, that is what prophecy tells us is coming.

Christmas is really close... and I can't catch up.  It will be another race to the finish.

Enjoy your holiday season... I have been hoping that everyone will find some good in the days ahead, share what they can, and find the love of GOD and the salvation of Jesus.

In Christ,
Deb Martin